Down manager Ronan Sheehan says that hurling needs space in the calendar above all else in order to flourish in the smaller counties.

Sheehan, who has guided the Mourne County to three wins out of three thus far in Division 2 of the Allianz Hurling League, said he told those words to incoming National Head of Hurling William Maher when he called to pick his brain recently.

Speaking in an interview with GAA.ie, Sheehan said he told the Tipperary native that the sport is getting “squeezed”.

“What hurling needs above anything else is not money, it needs space. What I mean when I say space is that it needs space in the calendar,” the Down boss stated.

“If we're truly serious about hurling and protecting hurling, particularly north of that line above Dublin where it has traditionally struggled we need to be saying that one week in every month should be a hurling only week. We're going to dedicate that time to allowing hurling to be nourished so it can flourish.

“Why do I say that? People will say we need more clubs or more young lads playing U8 or U10. Yes, we certainly do, but if you're going to focus on that what happens is you get these kids playing U8 or U10 and the minute they get to U12 they'll stop playing.

“Why? Because the football will go to three nights a week or four nights a week because there's an obsession with having to train the same way as an inter-county team does. It just means that hurling gets squeezed.”

He added: “We've an awful habit in the GAA that thinking the solution to everything is throwing money at something, but sometimes the best solution is one that costs nothing.”

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